How does the house differ from the senate?
There are 150 members of the house of representatives as opposed to 31 members of the senate. According to the most recent census figures, the ideal house district population is 113,243 as opposed to an ideal population of 547,952 for each senate district. Senators serve four-year terms and represent a relatively large number of constituents, whereas house members serve two-year terms and represent a smaller number of constituents. House members are therefore able to remain more closely in tune to the needs and concerns of their constituents. For this reason, the state constitution requires that all bills increasing taxes or raising revenue for use by the state originate in the house of representatives.
